Category: health

health, stress, teaching, yoga

Beginning: A Weekend of Therapeutic Yoga and a Proposal for You

Christa Avampato

Cheri Clampett guiding a student through a therapeutic yoga posture
“You are already perfect, whole, and complete. The work we do, the work of yoga, is to remove the obstacles to our own truth.” ~ Cheri Clampett

I spent the weekend at Integral Yoga Institute for Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal‘s Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing a lot about all of the powerful lessons that Cheri and Arturo generously handed to all of us.

What is Therapeutic Yoga?
Therapeutic Yoga, as Cheri and Arturo have defined it, combines restorative yoga, gentle yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, massage, breathwork, energy work, and guided meditation. A session is composed of a handful of poses, supported with props as needed, that are held for 5 – 15 minutes each. The goal is to help the student deeply relax into a meditative state, exerting minimal effort, by having each pose tailor-adjusted to meet the needs of the individual. In this way, therapeutic yoga is available to everyone regardless of age or health issues. Even people who are in the final days of their lives can find comfort in these postures. It is truly a practice for everyone.

Teacher as guide
All weekend, I was struck by the honesty, grace, and kindness that Cheri and Arturo gave to us through their own teaching. Though we covered a tremendous amount of material, I never felt rushed or stressed in their presence, and when it came time for me to work individually with my teaching partner, I didn’t feel the nervousness that I became so used to feeling when I went through my 200-hour training. All of a sudden, the knowledge that Cheri and Arturo gave to us was just there for me to freely incorporate into my usual teaching methods. It felt so natural that all I had to do was be with my partner and focus on what she needed. The class became all about her, and very little to do with me. I was just the guide who helped her open the door to her own peace.

What teaching teaches the teacher
When I got home, I went into the bathroom to wash my face. I looked up into the mirror and surprised myself. I actually looked younger. I had expected a full weekend of teacher training to leave feeling happy but spent, as it had during my 200 hour teacher training. Instead, I just felt present and whole in a way that I haven’t felt in some time. “I see now,” I thought. “So this is where I am supposed to be. This is the hour and method of my teaching.” I began to think of all of the people who could benefit from this practice, particularly those who are navigating their way through trauma such as veterans, police officers, care givers, those managing difficult illnesses, and people who are undertaking any kind of major transition in their lives. In that moment in the mirror, I became acutely aware of just how much I have to offer to those who want to heal. As Arturo said to us, “What feels good is good.” After this weekend, I feel amazing.

My offer to you
And now my proposal: In light of all this goodness that Cheri and Arturo shared so freely with us, I want to pay it forward. If you’re based in NYC and would like to have a free private therapeutic yoga session with me, or have a friend or family member who would be interested, I’d love to introduce you to the practice. Leave a comment, send me an email, FB message, tweet, or text, give me a ring, and we’ll find a time to make it happen. Thanks in advance for your partnership as I explore this path.

business, happiness, health, inspiration

Beginning: Monica McCarthy and Sara Alvarez Begin Their New Coaching Journeys

Christa Avampato

I am blessed with a life filled with inspiring friends. I love to feature the important work they’re doing out in the world. Today’s features fall to Monica McCarthy and Sara Alvarez, two women finding their voices through their writing and their practice as coaches.

Monica McCarthy with pup, Kenya
Monica McCarthy, the Lifestylista
One of her mantras: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~ e.e. cummings

Monica and I met through Twitter. I was heading out to a Meetup for Tech Nerds and Monica tweeted me that it sounded interesting. I invited her to join me, and we’ve been karma pals ever since. While she’s been blogging for quite some time, she has recently revamped the blog as one piece of her broader life coaching site. Monica’s mission to help creative professionals and entrepreneurs craft lives they love.

On her gorgeous site, she officially describes herself as “a Certified Holistic Health Coach, Recovering Actor, Writer, Speaker, and proud pup parent (isn’t she pretty?) with no plans of retiring. Ever.”

Though these are the parts of her self-description that I love the most and explains why we were such fast friends:
“I Feel most alive when I trust my intuition.

I Dream of having a second home in France where I ride my bicycle to the café to read and eat my daily chocolate croissant.

I Fear mediocrity.

I Lust after all things travel and have been fortunate enough to live/work/perform in Germany/London/Scotland/Japan.

I Drink Green juice, Joe’s iced coffee, Malbec, and Guinness with equal fervor

I went from bartender to Broadway to being my own boss.

I Surmise I’m an ENFP (me, too!), Vatta, Pisces (again, me too!), with a Flowing Radiant Style Statement.

I Believe everyone is capable of the extraordinary.”

Isn’t this the kind of coach you want to help craft your life?

Sara Alvarez
Sara Alvarez, Founder of Sara Alvarez Artistic Wellness
One of her mantras: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama

I met Sara through yoga teacher training at Sonic Yoga and since then she has proven to be a bright, shiny, supportive light in my life. She recently completed her Holistic Health Practitioner certification and started a blog called Blissful Brides where she “tracks her personal experience as a Yoga teacher, Holistic Health Coach, and BRIDE.” Her business provides yoga and holistic health counseling for artists and professionals. With a heart as big as her home state of Texas, she is “dedicated to helping others follow their bliss and learn to make healthier lifestyle choices which will empower them to succeed in every aspect of life.”

Sara’s focus on a wellness plan that is “flexible, fun, and rewarding” makes her the perfect choice for people not only looking to improve their nutrition, but to also improve their lives.

I’m mighty proud to have these two ladies in my life, and I hope you’ll take the time to get to know them, too.

care, crime, health, yoga

Beginning: Body Over Mind When Dealing with Trauma

Christa Avampato

“Our task must be to free ourselves.” ~ Albert Einstein

There’s no rule against having many sides to your personality. For too many years I thought I had to have one set of traits that didn’t contradict each other. My life as a child was chaotic and so as an adult I strove for consistency in every facet of my life. As I got older, I began to release some of the desire for consistency and found that at times I could be very assertive and at other times very shy. I could help and then ask for help when I needed it. I learned that there were times to be strong and times to let my vulnerability show. The key to balance between all of these different sides was authenticity, being in every moment. Authenticity always leads us to the appropriate behavior at the appropriate time. This idea of authenticity and being in the moment saved my life exactly twice.

A time for action
Had my head been able to rule my gut when my apartment building caught fire almost 2 years ago, I would not be here to write this post to you. Without a split second of conscious thought, I felt an incredibly assertive, unshakable strength in my belly. I literally flew down four floors, past burning apartments, and never felt my feet hit the ground. It was pitch black and I couldn’t see even an inch in front of me. It was as if I had been tightly blindfolded, and still I kept moving without hesitation. It that moment, my body chose life.

A time to give up
When I was a sophomore in college in Philadelphia I was robbed at knife point in the campus subway station. I was heading downtown to buy reeds for my saxophone at my favorite music shop. A man appeared in front of me without warning as I waited for my train, looming over me with a long, thin, sharp knife at my gut. “I don’t wanna hurt you; I just need your wallet.” All I could focus on was the gleam off of that blade. Without thinking I reached into my bag, grabbed my wallet, and handed it to him. He took the cash, handed the wallet back to me, and shooed me out of the station with the knife.

This time, I did feel my feet, and knees and face, hit the floor as I clumsily scrambled up the stairs. I felt like the subway station spit me out onto the sidewalk when I got to the surface. A naval officer was walking by and stopped to help me. He stayed with me while I talked to the police and even got me safely back to my dorm. Again, my gut chose life, but this time it chose life by giving up.

Both of these events brought on a good deal of trauma for me even though no bodily harm resulted from either incident. The pain and the harm was all in my mind and in my spirit. I was fearful and angry after both incidents, and wasn’t sure how to process either of those emotions. I was adrift, and I felt alone.

Recovery time
It took me a solid 6 months to get through the aftermath of the apartment building fire and over 2 years to get through the fear I felt on campus after the robbery. Help came in two completely different forms.

Asking for help
I credit my increased ability to ask for help with the shortened recovery time after the fire. I started working with my coach, Brian, as a result of the fire and it has proven to be one of the very best relationships of my life. When I was in college I was convinced that I had to get through the robbery on my own. If I didn’t feel okay, I needed to fake it. I didn’t go to counseling and I rarely talked about the incident with my friends. I beat myself up for giving that man my wallet; I didn’t honor the quiet strength of surrender that had saved my life.

How healing begins
With the fire, I couldn’t pretend to be okay. I would be walking down the street and suddenly be hysterical sitting on the curb. I couldn’t buy anything and I couldn’t hang up anything on the walls of my apartment. I was clearly not okay, and the guy I was dating at the time just wanted me to “get over it.” My friend, Rob, knew better and he referred me to Brian. Brian helped me reclaim my authenticity, find my voice, and taught me about the balance we can and should strike between strength and vulnerability.

After two years of completely avoiding the Philadelphia subway, Paul, my senior year boyfriend, suggested we take the train downtown. I couldn’t walk down the steps, and for the first time I told him the story about the robbery. We could have just walked or taken a cab. Instead, he grabbed my hand, guided me down the stairs, got on the train with me, and let me just cry it out. He literally cracked my heart open so I could begin to heal.

We can’t go it alone
We have the ability to be appropriately tough and soft. Our body knows exactly which way to be at every moment. It’s our mind that gets in the way. It’s the stories we tell ourselves that really send us into a tailspin. The hardest part of dealing with trauma is not the incident that causes it; it’s the sifting that our mind has to do once the danger recedes. Once we are through the physical cause of the trauma, we are left with so much to process and rarely can we do that processing alone. The mind needs patience and time, and very often the loving heart and healing of another person to help make us whole again. That person can be a teacher, a partner, a friend. What those going through trauma must know is that they don’t have to go it alone; there is someone who can help if only we can be strong enough, and equally vulnerable, to let someone else in.

What these incidents mean for my yoga teaching
These two incidents, and several other periods that I went through earlier in my life, led me to a strong interest in trauma and neuroscience. For a time I thought this interest was leading me to medical school when I suddenly realized that my long-time yoga practice was merging with my interest in how the mind recovers and heals. These two parts of my life has been calling to one another, learning from each other, and informing one another.

Slow gratitude
Yoga gave me a way to begin to be grateful for trauma. It’s only recently that I realized this was even possible. I thought trauma was a thing to file away as deeply as possible. I thought the best I could hope for would be to forget it, bury it. Healing is not an easy task; it’s difficult and uncomfortable and painfully slow. With patience and time, everything is possible, even the healing that we think will never come. I’m learning that eventually, we really can be truly grateful for even our darkest moments because they are often the spark that leads to our brightest light.

health, medical, military, yoga

Beginning: Why I Want to Work With Returning Veterans Through Compass Yoga

Christa Avampato

Damon Winter/The New York Times. 87th Battalion in Afghanistan
New York Times Quotation of the Day: “A lot of people were excited about coming home. Me, I just sat there and I wondered: What am I coming back to?” ~ Sgt. Brian Keith, part of the First Battalion, 87th Infantry in Fort Drum, N.Y., which recently finished a yearlong tour in Afghanistan

This quote perfectly encapsulates why I’m so interested in making veterans a central population I work with through Compass Yoga. On Memorial Day, we spend a lot of well deserved time paying tribute to the service of our troops at home and abroad. Most of this tribute goes toward their courage on the battle fields that are all-too-common in today’s world. I always wonder (and worry) about what that time in battle does to them in the quiet moments when they are alone, what it does to their families, and how they will integrate back into society when their tours of duty end. I worry most about the people like Sgt. Brian Keith, and I want to help them. After all they’ve done for us, I feel that this is the very least I can do for them.

Here are the facts that lead me to feel so much compassion and duty to serve veterans through Compass Yoga:

1.)20% of soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have PTSD while a total of 40% of those from tours of duty in Iraq alone have some type of mental health issue

2.) 20% of all suicides in the U.S. every year are veterans.

3.) Recent statistics show that 3% of men enlisted in the military get divorced each year; 7.8% of women in the military get a divorce every year. And the trend is climbing.

It’s important for us to recognize the heroic acts that all soldiers perform while in uniform. This Memorial Day, I’m also thinking about what happens to them when they return to civilian clothes, to their friends and family back home, and to their health and wellness after they’ve served with such courage. They need us to be there for them to support their transition back to life off the battle field. They have served us too well for too long to not receive as much care as we can possibly provide at they face their own battles back home.

The New York Times article referenced above has narrative and interactive features that detail the year-long deployment of the 87th Battallion in Afghanistan. It’s a tremendous look inside what it means for them troops to be on the battle field and then try to transition back to a home life that feels as foreign to them as the dangerous places where they serve.

books, clarity, health, inspiration, New York City, yoga

Beginning: Yoga Teacher and Writer Matthew Sanford on Awareness and Compassion at the New York Yoga Journal Conference

Christa Avampato

Matthew Sanford
“I have never seen anyone truly become more aware of his or her body without also becoming more compassionate.” ~ Matthew Sanford, yoga teacher and author Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence

My Uncle Tom recently recommended Matthew Sanford to me after hearing him speak. Given my devotion to yoga and my desire to use it to serve the healing of those who are working through trauma, he thought Matthew’s story and message would immediately resonate with me. My uncle knows me well. Upon reading his website and getting only a small glimpse into his experience, I was entranced.I felt like I really needed to hear this story at this moment and connect with Matthew.

So it was a wonderful and synchronous surprise that Matthew is in town for the New York Yoga Journal Conference. He gave a talk yesterday that was open to the public – many thanks to my pal, Yogadork, for cluing me into the event. I had no idea he would be speaking in town and would have been so upset if I had missed the opportunity to hear him talk about his personal and professional work with trauma. Much to my delight, he was even more intriguing and engaging in person than he is in his book. I didn’t think this was possible because I loved the book so much. I could hardly believe it. It’s like hearing a musician who sounds even better in person than he does on his hit album.

I sat with my friend, Erica, of Yogoer fame, and she described Matthew’s style perfectly. “He sifted through so much information that I have in my own mind and didn’t know how to articulate.” His words are poignant, authentic, and perfectly selected without feeling rehearsed. All without notes, nor a single pause or “um”. I could have listened to him all afternoon. My only disappointment was that his hour-long talk passed too quickly.

He discussed his area of expertise – the depth and breadth of the mind-body connection and its ability, when fully manifested in each of us, to change the world. He explained how important it is for our own happiness and for the good of the world for each of us to move in so that we can move out. The answers to all our challenges are within us already, no outside resource necessary. We know what to do, if only we would take the time to listen to the wisdom in our own bodies, in our own hearts. We have the ability to alter our own reality, and the greater world around us, by redefining our experience in this very moment. We have the ability, right now, to change everything. “The principles of yoga don’t discriminate,” Matthew said. How true that is. If you can breathe, just breathe, you can access all of the wisdom that yoga has to give.

My favorite sentiment from Matthew’s book is the connection he draws between awareness and compassion. I am particularly drawn to this idea because of my one word purpose that I’ve been working with this year: awareness. When I heard Dr. Chopra speak earlier this year, he inspired me to go looking for this one word purpose as a direction for all of my work. Awareness, to wake up and help others do the same, rose to the top.

Matthew and his story helped me make the next leap on my journey. What do I do once I wake up, once I can be fully aware at every moment? What is the point of attaining awareness? My compassion will grow as a result. And with compassion, real healing begins. As Matthew so brilliantly stated, “Compassion gives us a way to sit with suffering and not try to fix it.” And if we can sit with suffering long enough, we will find that it begins to dissipate on its own without a threat of returning. By being present with suffering, we give it a container to empty into and then we can melt it down, taking only its lessons with us and releasing the pain and confusion it causes.

Letting go takes time; compassion achieved through awareness gives us the necessary patience to allow for the process of letting go to progress. It gives us the time we need, for our own healing and to help others heal, too.

For more information about Matthew and his work, visit his website.

health, healthcare, meditation, nonprofit, yoga

Beginning: By-donation Yoga Workshop on the 5 Elements of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga to Benefit the Nonprofit Blissful Bedrooms

Christa Avampato

I put an ad up on Craig’s List last week looking for volunteer yoga teachers who would like to be matched to nonprofits to offer free yoga classes through the Compass Yoga program Karmi’s Angels. I received a lovely email in response to the add from Joyce Cobb, a Structural Yoga Therapist and committed civic activist. Joyce is on the board of a nonprofit called Blissful Bedrooms which provides bedroom makeovers for homebound, disabled, and economically challenged individuals. Isn’t that awesome? Design aiding service in the community. I love it.

On Monday evening, April 25th, Joyce is offering a by-donation workshop about the 5 elements of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga. Donations benefit Blissful Bedrooms. Workshop information below. All levels, from beginner to advanced are welcome.

By-donation Yin Yoga Workshop – Stress Points and the Water Element

In terms of Chinese medicine, Yoga is thought of as a self treatment. Stretching the meridians (pathways of energy in the body) promotes health and longevity, relieves stress and many ailments. The Chinese theory of Yin and Yang and the Five elements marries well with the theory and practice of Yoga. The duality of Yin and Yang is present in us and in all of nature. Yin Yoga can counterbalance the Yang practices on the mat and in our daily lives. At first this slow flowing, long held pose practice may seem boring to the “yangster” but even after the very first class one will experience the challenging nature of Yin Yoga and the quiet calm and overall peace it presents afterwards. The rewarding nature of a Yin practice is that brings with it the ability to be more accepting, more yielding. Facing the aversion that comes with holding a deep stretch longer than we are normally comfortable with helps us to let go of opinions we may have about our own limits and face the aversion in our daily lives, reducing our stress, enhancing our health, well being and peace of mind. It enhances breath work and meditation by preparing us more completely to be in the here and now.

Covered in this 1 ½ hour intensive workshop:

1.) Brief introduction to the theory and practice of the 5 elements in Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga

2.) Warm up Practice – Pawanmuktasana – Joint freeing series

3.) Yin Yoga Flow for the Kidney Meridian (a powerful way to promote healing and rejuvenate energy)

4.) Pranayama (breath work)

5.) Relaxation and Meditation

6.) Closing

Learn how to add this challenging Yoga practice to your daily life. Join us for a workshop on the Water element and Yin Yoga with Joyce Cobb, Structural Yoga Therapist and Certified Yin Yoga Teacher. All levels, from beginner to advanced are welcome. Payment will be by donation.

Proceeds go to benefit Blissful Bedrooms, whose mission is to transform the bedrooms of homebound and economically challenged young individuals challenged with a variety of disabilities. Find out more about blissful bedrooms here: http://www.blissfulbedrooms.org

Workshop Date:
Monday, April 25th

Location:
TRS Studios – 44 E 32nd Street – 11th Floor – Between Park and Madison Avenues

Time:
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Cost:
This is a by-donation workshop. Proceeds will go to benefit blissfulbedrooms.org

art, health, healthcare, music

Beginning: The Music Stays With Us to Our Last Days

Christa Avampato

From http://www.rockandtheology.com
On Saturday morning, I started a busy week of yoga teaching at New York Methodist Hospital. I went to the Geriatric Psychology Unit. Because it is an acute care facility, I always have a different group of patients whom I work with in a small group class. Their cognitive and physical abilities vary widely. This weekend I met a woman, Ruth, who spoke very little and though she could hear me speaking, my questions didn’t register in her mind. Their illnesses are both fascinating and heart breaking to witness. My mind can’t help but go to the thought that some day I and / or the people I know and love may find ourselves in this same situation of loss as the years tick by.

There was a piano in the room where I was teaching the class. Ruth slowly shuffled to it and played a church hymn that she probably learned as a young child. Her shaking that was prevalent throughout the yoga class completely stopped. Color came back to her cheeks and for a moment she seemed aware again as she played the hymn. I was astonished and asked Caroline, the recreational therapist, why Ruth could play the song perfectly but not answer the question, “how are you?” Caroline had a very simple answer, “Music is the very last thing to go from the mind. Cognitive abilities, math skills, and speech can be completely gone but music sticks with us until our very last days.” I had no idea.

I’m certain that there is a very sound, neurological reason for this. Perhaps musical ability is stored in an area of the brain that is not affected by the loss of cognitive ability from aging. The writer and philosopher in me finds this notion to retaining music as a beautiful, powerful justification for making creativity and the arts a very necessary part of our lives at every age. When everything else falls away, and I mean everything, we can take comfort that music will become our final voice to the world.

career, choices, decision-making, health, technology, writing, yoga

Beginning: Can I Get a Hell Yes?

Christa Avampato

http://nscblog.com
“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” ~ George Sheehan

I read this quote earlier in the week on a daily email I receive from Tiny Buddha. MJ, one of the wonderful readers of this blog, recommended it to me a few months ago and I’ve been reading it daily ever since. In line with my year of writing about new beginnings, the ideas that it raises really resonate with people who are always in the process of becoming.

George Sheehan’s quote hit a cord with me today as I wrestle with a possible career / life transition that allows me to combine my love of health and wellness with my equal love for technology and writing. For the past few months, I really thought I could make my money through one avenue and have my other personal passions live in my post-work hours. After SXSW and IHS, I’m recognizing that this dual-life takes much more energy than its worth. And since I can’t let go of any of these passions, they’re all too near and dear to my heart, I have to do some personal R&D. I need to find a way to fuse them together to create a happy and financially stable life for myself.

I’m aware that this is a tall order, and if I could get away with less believe me, I would do it. But I can’t. I have to become who I am meant to be. Anything less would just be a huge disservice to all of the people who have given me so much for so long. My family, my friends, my mentors, my teachers. There’s so much that the world needs and to make the most use of my time, I need to bring to bear everything that I have.

You do, too. A lot of us spend a lot of time being less. Now, I’m talking about running ourselves ragged for the sake of doing more, more, more. I’m talking about taking a look at what really makes our hearts sing, what really makes us come alive, and finding a way to do those things more of the time. Yes, we are still occasionally going to have to make choices that are less than ideal, though if they serve a long-term higher goal of getting as much happiness as possible in this lifetime, then we just need to recognize these less optimal stop-overs as exactly that – incremental steps to fully becoming the people we’re meant to be.

At SXSW, I had the great good fortune to meet Michelle Ward, a.k.a. The When I Grow Up Coach, through my wonderful friend, Amanda. A few weeks ago, Michelle sent out a tweet about decision-making, encouraging all of us to go for the choices that make us say, “Hell yes!” Now, isn’t that just about the best decision-making tool you could imagine. So elegant. Option A makes you say, “Eh, maybe” and Option B makes you say, “Hell, yes!” End of contemplation. For people like me who have a tree diagram for every decision they make as well as pro con lists out the wazoo, this little test is a life-saver. I’ve already used it a dozen times and reduced my stress considerably as a result.

Michelle’s test is a sure way to get to exactly the successful state that George Sheehan describes in his quote. Our courage, determination, and will become so much stronger, and honestly easier to have, when we have “Hell yes” on our side. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out!

fear, free, health, meditation, yoga

Beginning: Meditate on Breath

Christa Avampato

“We all die on the exhale.” ~ Robert Chodo Campbell, HHC

On Sunday I wrote a post the opening meditation session of the Integrative Healthcare Symposium that was run by Robert Chodo Campbell and Koshin Paley Ellison, two Buddhist monks who co-founded and co run the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. I learned so much in their hour presentation and am looking forward to taking some classes at the center and learning from them. (Rest assured that I’ll be sharing all of that on this blog!)

Our closing breath practice was very simple, similar to the opening. Chodo asked us to close our eyes and breathe. On the inhale, he asked us to send love to every person around the world who was drawing their very first breathe of life at that very moment. On the exhale, he asked us to send compassion and love to every person letting go of their very last breath. “We all die on the exhale,” he said. And it wasn’t the least bit morbid; it was just a fact. It is one of the things that binds all of us together. The exhale is every life’s very last act.

This caused to wonder what it means then for us to master the exhale. If we gain that mastery, then can we also master the great transition that we’ll all make in our own time. When we learn to master the exhale, have we also learned how to release? And if we can truly release, can we finally free ourselves from any fear?

animals, books, film, health, movie, science

Beginning: How Temple Grandin Walked Through the Door to Her Dreams and Why You Should See Her Movie

Christa Avampato

Temple Grandin with one of her cows. From Nature's Corner Magazine
“Temple is different, not less.” ~ Eustacia Cutler, Temple Grandin’s mother to Temple’s science teacher and mentor, Dr. Carlock

“The world is cruel, but we don’t have to be. We owe it to all animals to give them our respect.” ~ Temple Grandin

After having read several of Temple Grandin’s books about animal psychology and animal behavior, I knew what a remarkable person she was. When I saw the movie Temple Grandin recently, I was not prepared for the emotional tug that my heart would feel in learning more about her own personal story. Portrayed brilliantly by actress Claire Danes, Temple Grandin’s determination, passion, and conviction made her one of my heroes.

Autism is a very personal issue for me. My father, a clinical psychologist, studied it which led me to explore the possibility of building my career in development pediatrics while I was a student at Penn and a work-study student at CHOP. My nephew also lives with a specific type of autism that has prevented him from speaking to us since he was about 3 years old; he’ll be 13 in June. I have close friends whose lives have been touched in one form or another by the condition. I’ve known autism to be fascinating and heartbreaking. Temple Grandin’s story made me realize that it can also be triumphant and hopeful.

In this post, I could expound upon the spectrum of autism and how it commonly manifests in both young children and adults. However, Autism Speaks, an organization that has worked tirelessly to fund research and provide education and support services to individuals and families affected by autism, is far more equipped to do that.

What I want you to do is go over to Netflix and put the movie Temple Grandin at the very top of your queue. I want you to take yourself to Amazon or your local bookseller or the public library and check out Temple Grandin’s books. Poke around on her website and be prepared to be inspired.

Her personal passion is the well-being of animals, particularly ones that we raise for our own purposes. What she teaches us through that passion is how to be better human beings. And given all that’s going on in the world, it’s a skill that is desperately needed in huge heaping amounts. For too long we have looked at autism as this hideous disease rather than seeing that the many challenges it presents have so much to teach all of us about compassion, determination, and the universal acceptance of all people as different but not less.